Composition for removing corrosion reaction products from metals



Patented Feb. 12, 1952 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE COMPOSITION FORREMOVING CORROSION. REACTION PRODUCTS FROM METALS Pennsylvania,

NoDrawing. Application August 9, 1948, Serial No. 43,352

2. Claims.

This? is. a continuation in part of" my. application for patent SerialNo. 769,322, filed August 18, 1947, now abandoned, entitled Compound forCleaning and Removing Impurities from Metals.

This invention relates to a composition for cleaning metals and removingimpurities from the-same, and more particularly to a composition whichis useful in. cleaning moulds used. in the manufacture of glassware;cleaning and deoxodizing. iron, steel and. other alloy metals; removingflux from metals which have been welded or. brazed; cleaning clogged.metal tubing such as in automobile or other radiators; cleaning pipes ofheating systems; and pickling or. bath immersion treating of variousmetals in the manufacture and processing. thereof;

The composition herein disclosed" has many and varied uses. As anexample of one of the uses. of this composition, it has been found thatdiscolored metals such as chrome plated metals which have been rejectedfor discoloration can be successfully restored through treatment withthis-composition. After treatment the" metal can be either plated overagain or used with itsfull value simply as a result of thetreatment.

The composition of this invention isextremely valuable in that in theuse thereof there are no objectionable fumes to contend with and it isabsolutely harmless to the hands or clothing of the workmen. employed inusing the composition. The composition has found use. inthe process" ofplating, enamelling, metalizing, painting and anodyzing' various.metals.

The present composition can be used in place of. ordinary picklingsolution or cleaning preparations which are used now commonlyin themetal industries. Furthermore, the presentcomposition can be used overand; over again. without deterioration until it becomes too.- dirty'and. too: full of the endproducts which have beenremovedto beofpractical further use. The. essential. ingredients of this compositionwill not evaporate, the only evaporation beingthat of the water, andwhen this is replaced in the proper amount, the composition is againusable.

In the matter of non-ferrous metals, the same beneficial results ofcleaning withthis composition will beobtained as with other metals andno harmful effect on. the: metals being cleaned will result.Furthermore, the metal. treated: does not require. burnishing. It hasbeen. found that with thiscomposition the time required for clean.- ingor pickling metals is-very materially reduced.

In most. cases the immersion. of not more. than.

ten; minutes, and ranging anywhere from three to tenminutes; willbeamply sufiicient. It has been found for example, in the cleaning ofmoulds used in making glassware that eventhe most encrusted moulds willyield to an immersion of not more than ten minutes, being at the endofsuch time fully suitable for further use.

While this compositionis as stated a composition having many uses, itwill be noted that it is of specialvalue and great benefit in the glassmoulding industry. In this industry the methods of cleaning the mouldsheretofore used have been very expensive in that considerable time. andeffort was needed to remove; the'carbon with which the, moulds becomeencrusted, and furthermore, the moulds had to be ground to remove theforeign matter. This resulted in a lossof the moulds because eventuallythe grinding or sand blasting caused the moulds to become of impropersize. It has been found by actual test that by using the presentcomposition the moulds need only be immersed for not more than tenminutes, and on an average only about five minutes to fully clean them.Instead of grinding or sand. blasting the moulds and then polishingthem, it is only necessary. to lightly polish or burnish the surfaceafter. immersion in the pres entcomposition to have. the moulds almostinstantly clean and. ready for use. Furthermore, the cleaning with thissolution takes place at ordinary room temperature.

Further important objects and benefits of this invention. will becomeapparent from the description and the appended. claims.

The essential ingredients of the composition herein described are waterat ordinary room temperature, the water being optionally eitherdistilled or ordinarytap water; potassium hydroxide solution, thissolutionconsisting of potassium hydroxide flakes in the proportion of2%; ounces flakes dissolved in 11% ounces of water; ammonium hydroxide,ordinary commercial grade, 26 B.; and sulphuric acid, commercial grade,94% to 96% pure, 66 B.

The exact proportions of the-four ingredients, which proportions areextremely important and are absolutely critical, are as follows: OuncesThese ingredients in the specific proportions" as stated may bemixeditogether at ordinary roomi emperature in any suitable vessel, butpreferably a lead lined vessel, and they must be mixed under constantagitation and what is extremely important, they must be mixed togetherin the following order:

(1) Water (2) Potassium hydroxide solution (3) Ammonium hydroxide (4)Sulphuric acid The final solution as measured on any ordinary hydrometerwill have a specific gravity of 1.100 to 1.112. Although the solution isimmediately ready for use as soon as the ingredients have been properlymixed together, it has been found practical to allow a cooling beforestoring in shipping containers as during the mixing operation thetemperature will rise from Fahren heit to sometimes Fahrenheit abovenormal room temperature. It will be observed that during the mixing ofthe ingredients, that when acid is added to the first three, the mixturewill turn from an ordinary clear colorless liquid into a liquid having avery dark brown color. This dark brown color immediately disappears andthe solution again becomes clear and colorless as soon as the rightamount of acid has been added, the correct amount being as indicated inthe proportions hereinbefore stated.

Unless the exact proportions of the material are used as stated herein,and unless the several ingredients are mixed in the exact manner hereinindicated, the composition will not have the results and beneficial useshereinbefore stated. In fact, if the composition is improperly mixed andif the exact proportions are not observed, it will be useless for anypurpose.

- The water serves for the necessary volume and as a vehicle for theother ingredients. The potassium hydroxide solution has a cleaningeffect and it adds to the total effect of the composition in a mannerwhich is unknown to me, except that I have found by experimentation thatin using the potassium hydroxide solution made up as herein explained,as a part of my formula, I get a different and better result than as ifthe potassium hydroxide solution was simply mixed with water and usedseparately or used alone.

The ammonium hydroxide seems to act as a neutralizer and renders thecomposition harmless to the human skin. It also has certain otherpeculiar and novel results in the composition which I cannot explainother than by stating that ifI used different proportions or omittedsame, I do not get the proper results.

The sulphuric acid is well known as a metal cleaner and has been used indilute solutions with water. For cleaning metal it is dangerous to usein that it attacks the metal and of course is extremely harmful to thehuman skin, as well as the clothing of the operator. My composition doesnot attack the metal or other surfaces being cleaned. or treated and inactual experiments has been stored in metal containers for as long assixteen months without serious injury to the container.

The moulds used in glass making are usually of cast steel or cast iron.In use, the great heat of the glass which is as much as 2'700Fahrenheit, requires constant swabbing of the mould with graphite baseoil. The heat causes a carbon deposit which up to now could only beremoved by grinding or sand blasting the mould and then polishing it.This method has heretofore been the only known method in the glassindustry, although much experimentation and great sums have been spentin seeking a way of saving the moulds from the grinding effect and toreduce the expense of cleaning. With my composition the savings in theindustry are calculated to be tremendous in that the moulds are quicklyand easily cleaned simply by immersion in my composition for a fewminutes and then washing in water. High temperatures are not required asthe process operates at ordinary room temperature and in some instancesno further treatment of the mould at all is required, although as amatter of practice it has been found expedient to wipe the moulds aftercleaning, with steel wool or the like. The polishing operation whenresorted to requires a very brief period of time, usually not more thana couple of minutes, de pending on the size of the mould.

Mere uncalculated mixtures such as disclosed for example in Patents1,973,087 of September 11, 1934, and 686,665 of November 12, 1901, ofsome or all of the ingredients of my composition do not have thebeneficial aspects and results of my formula, as such mixtures eitherattack the metal if used in treating metal or are harmful to the user ifcontacted by the skin or clothes, or both.

It is highly desirable that while the glassware making moulds are beingcleaned with the use of the solution or compound herein described, theseterms being used interchangeably, that if possible, those parts of themould which have had sufiicient cleaning action, or in other words thosearts from which the carbon or other objectionable deposits orencrustations have been removed, shall be protected against furtherunnecessary cleaning action. It will be understood that some parts ofthe mould may require longer treatment and more time of immersion forcleaning those other parts, depending on how dirty (carbon crusted,etc.) the several parts of the mould may happen to be. For this purpose,to protect the cleaned parts of the mould from further unnecessaryaction, while the rest of the mould is still taking the cleaning action,my invention or discovery is to add to the cleaning solution a certainquantity of protective substance, which substance is albu men or drypowdered white of eggs.

This protective ingredient is extremely im-' portant to the protectionof the moulds after my solution or compound has done its part in thecleaning and removal of this hard carbon deposit from the moulds. Itwill be understood that in using the moulds they are coated withgraphite based oil to keep the glass from sticking to the moulds and dueto the extreme heat generated in the moulding process this coatingbecomes a} hard carbon deposit which has to be removed before the mouldscan be used over again. This protective substance, viz., the albumen ordry powdered white of eggs is added to the solution after the latter hasbeen fully prepared ready for action and has been placed in the cleaningtank. The amount of protective substance, which term will be used indescribing the albumen or dried powdered white of eggs, that is used isone ounce avoindupois by weight to each fifty (50) gallons of thecleaning composition. The proportion of protective substance can bevaried but there are practical limits which I have determined by testand which can best be explained by me a follows: That if less than theounce is used, the protective substance will still be effective but notas much: so as if the stated proportions are used and fur-- thermore itwillbe impossible to determine theextent to which the protectivesubstance is being ewe-ares effective whereas" if the'on fQunce"tofi'ftygallons proportions are observedijthe' solution to-which theprotective'substance-liasbeen added will take on an appearance. asof.having a. foam on the surface. This foamy appearance will remain for so:long as therprotective substancetis still effective and doing its work.When the'foamy: appearance disappearsitisthen evidentthatwhile theprotective substance may still be having some degree of eflect'ivenessin the cleaning-solution of'which it hasbeen' made apart, itis-belowthedesired point of such effectiveness, this: is then a signal toaddmore ofthe protective substance tothe cleaning. solution. This.protective substance is initially, or when being added as a supplementto revive the desired eifectiveness of the solution, merely stirred inby vigorous agitation by any desired means as for example by use of apaddle or the like stirrer. Mere stirring of the cleaning compound afterthe protective substance has diminished below the desired effectiveneswill not revive the foamy appearance or revive the effectiveness of theprotective substance. My theory of what happens to the mould is thatwhen the carbon deposit has softened and dropped off the protectivesubstance then adheres to the cleaned part of the mould. It will notstick to the uncleaned part of the mould.

Now as regards having more than one ounce protective substance to fiftygallons cleaning composition, or in other words, the upper limit, I havefound that as much as three ounces can be safely used, but it slows theaction of the cleaning composition by a much as one-half and if too muchof the albumen is added, has such a deleterious effect on the cleaningcomposition as to make it entirely ineffective. My theory of this actionis that the cleaning composition becomes entirely neutralized althoughfor what reasons this happens, I am not entirely scientifically aware.

The time element for adding the protective substance is dependent on thenumber of moulds or like pieces being cleaned in a given quantity of thecleaning composition. For example, in cleaning 1010 pieces, viz., mouldsas commonly used in making glassware; parts of the machinery, blanks,guide funnels, baflies, springs, neck rings, and various other thingsand using a fifty gallon quantity of my cleaning composition having thisprotective substance in it in the one ounce to the fifty gallonsproportions, the protective substance was added nine times or once ineach seventy-two hours.

It is essential that the cleaning solution or composition with thisprotective substance in it, which will be referred to as the protectedsolution, shall not be permitted to exceed a working temperature of 110degrees Fahrenheit. The protected solution should be warm, viz., from 65to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, not hot, as a higher temperature not onlydestroys the effectiveness of the protective substance, but may damagethe mould by pitting it. However, the protected solution may also beeffectively used at a temperature as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

A method of determination of life of the protected solution Atsixty-five degrees Fahrenheit it will take approximately fifteen minutesto clean moulds, etc., that have been in operation ten days. Moulds,etc., in operation forty-eight hours, then cleaned, the time limit willbe approximately fifty percent-less; at'the -same temperature: If thetime element is the samein both cases; that machine and the-time isdoubled in the cl'eanin'g:

1 solution, the mouldsshould be taken; out:

and the new solution put in the tank. There may be a few exceptions tothis rule, but that will bedetermined through experience:

An example ofthe value of my protected sol'u tion is in thefact that inmy method of cleanin with my protected solution 504 pieceswerecleanechin 616M611;,h0.l11f85 where asformerlythis, required; one-.hundred ,andi-. twenty-six hours; Alscn, the; lif'erofz; the moulds.has: een; extended by about a third beyond their normal useful life.

For use in treating chrome or the like plated articles to clean andrestore the same, it is only necessary to immerse these articles for afew minutes, as a rule not exceeding ten minutes, in a sufllcientquantity of my composition to completely cover the article, and thenwash the article in clean water.

In the use of my composition for cleaning clogged radiators, as forexample, automobile radiators, the radiator and cooling system isdrained and a quantity of my composition is substituted. The radiatorand cooling system is then heated by the ordinary action of running theengine of the automobile and then the contents are drained, after whichthe radiator need only be flushed with water. The length of time thecomposition is allowed to remain in the radiator and cooling systemdepends on the extent of stoppage or other foreign matter involved.

In cleaning flux and oxides from copper and brass assemblies, the metalwhile still hot and on completion of the brazing operation is immersedin my composition. The removal of flux A and oxides is practicallyinstantaneous. The assembly need then only be rinsed in water.

In using the composition as a pickling bath, the article to be treatedis simply immersed in a sufficient amount of composition to completelycover it and allowed to remain for a short period of time in most casesnot exceeding ten minutes, after which it is removed and washed withclear water.

In connection with other uses of my composition, it will be found as arule that it is only necessary to cover or immerse the article in mycomposition or externally apply my composition, then rinse the articlewith water.

In referring to the same mixture but having the protective substance init, I have called it the protected solution.

It will be understood that in referring to the cleaning of moulds usedin making glassware, I include within such definition the various otherparts of machinery and apparatus which have to be cleaned, as metallicparts and various elements of metallic nature wholly or partlyfabricated, for which cleaning is necessary.

What I claim is:

l. A composition for removing corrosion reaction products from metalconsisting by Weight per gallon of the composition:

Ounces Water 93.08 Potassium hydroxide solution 11.64 Ammoniumhydroxide, 26 B 11.64 Sulphuric acid, 66 B 11.64

said potassium hydroxide solution consisting of potassium hydroxide andwater in the proportion of 2 /3 ounces of potassium hydroxide flakes to;

11% ounces of water. 1

2. A composition for cleaning moulds in th manufacture of glasswareconsisting of the following ingredientsby weight per gallon of thecomposition:

Ounces Water 93.08 Potassium hydroxide solution 11.64 Ammoniumhydroxide, 26 B 11.64 Sulphuric acid, 66 B 11.64

and one ounce of albumen to each 50 gallons of said composition, saidpotassium hydroxide solution consisting of potassium hydroxide and waterin the proportion of 2 ounces of potassium hydroxide flakes to 11%ounces of water.

LEWIS MORGAN PETERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 686,665 Shehadi et a1. Nov.12, 1901 690,458 Pease et al Jan. 7, 1902 1,973,087 Markley et a1. Sept.11, 1934 2,116,034 McGaughey May 3, 1938

2. A COMPOSITIONI FOR CLEANING MOULDS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASSWARECONSISTING OF THE FOLLOWING INGREDIENTS BY WEIGHT PER GALLON OF THECOMPOSITION: